The European Parliament declared yesterday that big European supermarket chains may be abusing their market position to drive down prices paid to suppliers.

The European Union assembly called for an investigation into the practices of the big grocers across the continent, just days after the UK competition watchdog recommended a tougher code of practice for supermarkets in this country.

In a non-binding declaration, the EU assembly said a small number of chains were becoming “gatekeepers”, controlling the access of farmers and other suppliers to the EU’s 490 million consumers. It said evidence suggests the major grocers are abusing their buying power to force down prices paid to suppliers to “unsustainable levels and impose unfair conditions on them”.

The assembly asked the Commission “to propose appropriate measures, including regulation, to protect consumers, workers and producers from any abuse of dominant position or negative impacts identified in the course of this investigation”, the declaration said.

A Commission spokesman told The Independent that it would comment after receiving the parliament’s document.

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